Low gas prices, rising wages and solid job growth make for one happy consumer.
Consumer confidence for December surpassed expectations, increasing to 96.5 from 92.6 in November, according to the Conference Board, a New York-based research association.
The report showed confidence jumped most for those who are younger than 35 years old. Little changed for those ages 35 to 54 years old, and confidence declined among consumers 55 and older.
Roughly 211,000 jobs were added in November, and 12.9% of consumers anticipate there will be even more jobs in months ahead, up from 12.0% in November. Meanwhile, those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 18.5% to 16.6%.
“Looking ahead to 2016, consumers are expecting little change in both business conditions and the labor market. Expectations regarding their financial outlook are mixed, but the optimists continue to outweigh the pessimists,” Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement.
It’s the Little Things That Count
In what also could be a sign of an improving economy, United Airlines will bring back free snacks for economy passengers in February. Flights departing before 9:45 a.m. will serve stroopwafels—Dutch, caramel-filled waffles—and flights later in the day will have savory snack mixes.
The “Fly the Friendly Skies” airline first nixed free snacks in 2008 amid the financial crisis.
“We’re refocusing on the big and littlethings that we know matter to our customers and shape how they feel about their travel experience,” said Jimmy Samartzis, United’s vice president of food services.
This Class is Down But Not Out
Considered by some as the bread and butter of America, the middle class is shrinking.
Middle-class Americans now make up less than half (49.9%) of the United States’ population, down from 61.0% in 1971, according to a Pew Research Center report.
This is yet another sign of growing income inequality, Rakesh Kochhar, associate director of research at Pew, told CNN.
Pew defines middle-class Americans as those living in households earning from two-thirds to two times the nation’s median income. In 2014, that ranged from $41,900 to $125,600 for a three-person household.
Some good news, however, is that more people are moving up the ladder than down. Pew reports senior citizens were most likely to have shifted into the upper class since 1971. The share of Americans age 65 and older in the upper bracket increased nearly 27% over that time. Married couples with no children and black Americans also saw larger gains.
Saving and Spending
- One-third —Customers who bought breakfast from McDonald’s beyond regular breakfast hours but had not visited the chain at all prior to its all-day breakfast launch, according to a survey by the NPD Group.
- $540 —Gasoline savings per American driver in 2015 thanks to low prices, according to Oil Price Information Service. And according to JPMorgan Chase, consumers are spending about 80% of their gas savings—mostly at foodservice establishments.
- 7.9% —Growth in U.S. retail sales during the traditional Black Friday to Christmas Eve shopping season for 2015, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. Retail spending, excluding gasoline and vehicle purchases, grew 5.5% during the same period in 2014.
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